Diverse groups have the highest workplace emotional intelligence

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (D,E&I) is a prevalent topic at the moment as women and people from ethnic minorities are leaving the workforce at an alarming rate.

While many will be aware that having a range of perspectives is good for business outcomes, it also seems that non-diverse teams have an impact on office wellbeing.

Untapped AI, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based transformation platform, has found that ethnically diverse groups have the highest emotional intelligence (EQ) among colleagues. The company came to this conclusion by leveraging its own data on 10,000 users across the globe and using AI to analyze trends.

In order to break down the data from users of the platform, Untapped AI split EQ into separate categories ‘EQ self’, in relation to self, and ‘EQ other’, in relation to other people.

Unpicking the findings

Untapped AI’s research found that diverse ethnic groups have an EQ that is 3% higher than their white counterparts. Out of all the ethnicities recorded, ‘Black British’ scored the highest EQ on the platform, producing 6% greater EQ than colleagues that are white.

Additionally, the data also reveals women score between 8% and 10% higher in EQ than male colleagues.

Interestingly, the study also found that two thirds of the 10,000 users on the Untapped AI platform believe it is crucial for leaders in the pandemic and the hybrid working environment to expand their capacity for EQ.

Speaking about the findings, Kendal Parmar, co-founder and CEO of Untapped AI, said: “On average, Black employees on our platform have 6% higher EQ than all other groups on our platform, and yet, black employees are sitting on an ‘untapped resource’ as they navigate systems in various environments at work.

“The sad reality is that instead of utilizing their EQ in leadership roles black employees can often find themselves using their high EQ to ‘read the room’, avoid conflict, and diffuse microaggressions.

“This is neither inclusive, nor an effective way to approach diversity, and workplaces need to do more than introduce training programs that do not open constructive conversations.

“Organizations that want to truly drive change will need to put inclusion at the heart of everything they do and harness the best in technology to identify where they can improve.”

D,E&I tech

Evidently, those who want to improve their transformations, need to invest in D,E&I platforms and initiatives.

In terms of improving the talent pools that a company is considering for managerial positions, technology can help.

The likes of Circa post job ads in diversity sites throughout the United States, and enable employers to reach a number of different talent pools.

Equally, Diversely rewrites CVs to make them more accessible and posts them on specific sites used by diverse candidates.

With technology to help, many will hope that a more diverse and emotionally intelligent workplace can be developed.